


Adventures in Babysitting

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Set in Storybrooke, Canon Divergent [26]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 18:12:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15370413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: Written for Cherish the Peanut Week.There is never a short supply of babysitters in Storybrooke–snippets into times when Leroy and Nova, Hook and Emma, Ruby, Maleficent and Henry have babysat for Ember (Peanut).





	Adventures in Babysitting

“Oh, I’ll watch her,” Nova squeals as she looks up hopefully at Regina. Regina blinks at her, as she catches her daughter before she crawls away from her. It’s been a chaotic day. The boys are all sick—and Robin’s the worst of them—and it’s the eve of the Miner’s Day celebration, and as mayor, Regina feels obligated to oversee the set-up—signing last minute permits, directing traffic around the festivities and ensuring that everything is as it should be. In a pinch she’d decided to take Ember with her, assuming that it wouldn’t be that bad.

But it is.

Ember is bored and curious, and at nine-months, she’s increasingly mobile.

“I don’t know…” Regina murmurs as Ember squirms in her arms, calling out excitedly as a vendor carrying a fist full of balloons passes by. “She’s kind of a handful.”

“That’s precisely why I should watch her. My booth is set up, so I’m done here.” She pauses, “And you’ll be here for the next several hours.” Regina hesitates. “Please?” Nova asks, a smile stretching over her lips. “I teach kindergarten. I was Henry’s teacher. You know she’ll have fun and be well looked after if I take her.”

Regina sighs and nods, handing Ember over to Nova. “I’ll pick her up around four?”

“Sounds great!” Leroy calls, as he jogs up beside them and smiles, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Nova turns and arches an eyebrow. “What? I  _love_  kids!”

Regina’s eyes widen and suddenly, she’s skeptical; but Nova smiles. “How  _wonderful_.”

Regina watches them go, Leroy awkwardly taking Nova’s hand in his—and she wonders if the dwarf is attempt to use her child to impress a woman—or a fairy. Her eyebrow arches, but before she can over-think any of it, a vendor shows up, in a panic about not having access to an electrical outlet and her focus is diverted.

Back at the school, Leroy watches as Nova gets out a set of blocks and sets the baby onto the carpet. He stands beside Nova, watching as Ember stacks them and knocks them down with a laugh—and he wonders why Regina looked so nervous. Babysitting is  _easy_ —and based on the way Nova smiles, offering to help was a good call.

“Nova,” Blue says in her hushed, curt voice. “Did you finish making the labels for the mason jar candles?” Nova shakes her head, and Blue lets out an annoyed sigh. “ _You_  were supposed to do that.” Blue nods toward Ember. “And I’m sure Leroy can handle…her.”

Nova looks back expectantly and Leroy nods—a moment later Nova is gone, and a moment after that, there is a crash. He turns to watch Ember laughing, standing as she holds herself up on a U-shaped table—markers scattered around on the floor.

With a sigh, he goes to pick them up—and again, Ember giggles. But when he looks to the table, she’s not there. He blinks and wonders if she has the same poofing ability as her mother, but before he can complete the thought, there’s another thud and then another and another. His eyes widen as he watches her pull book after book after book from the shelf, and throws it to the floor.

“Uh oh…” she says, giggling as she drops her tenth book.

Filing the books back on the shelf he sighs loudly, muttering something about a little tornado. He smiles in satisfaction when the books are back in their place, but when he looks to the end of the bookshelf, Ember is no longer standing there. He grimaces when he hears a popping sound and slowly turns—watching in horror as she opens the art cabinet and pulls out a bottle of tempra paint. Too heavy for her to hold, it falls to the tilted floor—his jaw drops open as the cap flies off and before he can set of a foot forward, Ember is giggling wildly as her fingers squish the paint, spreading it around the tile. She grins up at him, “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh, is right, kid,” he mutters as he shoves his hands in his pocket and looks to the clock on the wall—it’s only two.

By the time four o’clock rolls around, Leroy trudges down Main Street with Ember tucked under his arm. Regina’s eyebrow arches as he comes into the diner, taking long strides as he holds her daughter in the same way he might hold a log. The little girl’s hands are painted blue and green, matching spots on her cheeks; and before she can ask, Leroy drops the baby into her lap, “ _This_ belongs to  _you_ ,” he spats, before turning on his heels and trudging back out of the diner.

_____

Ruby lifts her onto the counter, grinning as she opens her makeup bag and Ember leans forward to examine what’s inside. Her red hair is pulled into two ponytails—it’s crimped and frizzy, different colored neon barrettes holding them up.  Reaching into the makeup bag, she pulls out a pallet of eye-shadow. Looking up at Ruby, she smiles then looks back at the pallet, “So pretty.”

“Do you want to wear some?” Ember’s eyes grow wide and she nods. “Which color do you want?” Ember considers, her eyes lingering over each color and slowly she points to a bright blue color and then to a sparkly pink one. “Both?” Again, Ember nods and Ruby laughs, dragging the brush through the blue shadow.

When all is said and done, Ember’s face is painted in a myriad of colors—one eye blue and one pink, her cheeks are rosy and her lips are bright red; her fingers painted in alternating colors of lime green and yellow glitter. And Ruby can’t help but laugh as she thinks of the always-put together Mayor Mills—with her sensible pantsuits and  classic makeup—if only she could see her daughter’s choices.

Grinning, she snaps a few pictures as the eighteen-month old poses in poses that only an eighteen-month old would choose. She chuckles softly as she flips through the pictures on her phone, and Ember smiles proudly as she watches herself in the mirror.

“Okay, how about we get you changed into your jammies,” Ruby suggests. “We can watch a movie—your pick.”

Ember nods and she lifts her from the countertop, laughing to herself as she texts Regina the pictures and imagining the look of absolutely shock and horror that will settle on her face when she sees her beautiful little girl, usually so clean and proper looking, dressed like little punk rock version of Rainbow Brite.

_____

Killian looks around nervously, his hand wringing the back of his neck as he looks around—he  _can’t_  have lost her.

Because if he did the wrath of the Savior will be so much worse than wrath of the Evil Queen.

Emma had volunteered excitedly to spend an afternoon with Ember—giving Robin and Regina a much needed day to themselves. He’d hoped that that meant Henry would be tagging along, but Henry had elected instead to go target-shooting with Roland and the Merry Men—and he can’t say that he blames him. When Robin and Regina left, Emma had scooped up Ember and cuddled her, promising an afternoon of fun.

And fun they’d had.

Emma set up a craft table and she and the toddler had spent the afternoon finger-painting and making macaroni necklaces and coloring little sheets of plastic before melting them in the oven—a process that was completely perplexing to him—then gluing magnets to the back. He’d enjoyed watching—Emma looked like she was enjoying the time alone with her god-daughter, and though he was reluctant to admit it, he had a soft spot for the little girl. But a soft-spot didn’t mean he knew what to  _do_  with her. So, when Emma retreated to the kitchen to make grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for lunch, she’d suggested a game.

And upon hearing the word ‘game’ Ember had begged to play hide-and-seek—and he couldn’t say no when she smiled and batted her eyelashes at him, so he’d agreed. And now, he’d  _lost_  her.

He looks behind and underneath the couch, in the coat closets and in the cabinet where Henry’s games are kept.  His heart begins to beat faster; he’s out of places to search. Ducking down, he looks beneath the craft table, but she’s not there. He wanders into the hallway and opens the closet door, sighing loudly as he contemplates how to tell Emma that after only five minutes, he’s lost the child.

And then hamper begins to move.

A grin forms on his lips and relief washes over him as he opens the top. Ember is sitting atop a few towels, rolled into a ball. Gently, he reaches in and loops his hook through her sweatshirt and she giggles as he lifts her and she dangles from his hook.

“Do I even want to know?” Emma asks, her eyes wide and confused as she holds a plate of grilled cheese.

He offers her a sheepish grin, “No. You don’t.”

___

“Are you  _really_  a dragon?”

Maleficent blinks and looks at the five-year old child in front of her, eyeing her skeptically with her arms crossed over her chest. “Well, of course I am.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ember decides. “You don’t look like a dragon.”

“Oh, no?” Mal asks, arching an eyebrow in amusement. “And what do you think a dragon is supposed to look like?”

Ember considers for a moment. “Not pretty,” she says decisively. “You don’t have horns or a tail either.”

With a smirk, Mal stands and takes her hand, leading her into the backyard. “Stay here,” she says in a firm voice, knowing full well that Regina would slay her in an instant if anything happened to the girl. There are levels to transforming herself—and she certainly doesn’t want to scare Ember by morphing herself into a dragon—but she doesn’t have to do that to show her some of her dragon-like qualities. Finally across the yard, she looks back at Ember who is watching her curiously. And then, she looks away, takes a breath and slowly exhales a stream of fire—taking out a row of pink tulips that she’s surprised to even find residing in Regina’s yard.

“Wow!” Ember calls out, running forward. “Can you teach me?! That was  _so_ cool!”

“I’m afraid I can’t,” Mal tells her with a grin, “Because unlike me,  _you_  aren’t a dragon.”

Ember sighs, “That’s not fair. Being a dragon would be so cool.”

Maleficent nods, “I would agree. It is cool.” Reaching out, she takes Ember’s hand and leads her back to the house. “Now, tell me. Those tulips…”

“The ones you burned?”

“Yes,  _those_. What was your mother thinking?”

“Mary-Margaret bought them for her,” Ember confesses with a giggle. “Mommy said it’d be rude not to plant them, so we planted them in the back of the garden.”

Maleficent smiles contently—glad that she won’t have angered the Queen.

____

Ember bounces down the hallway in her pajamas, holding the leather-bound storybook in her hands. “HENRY!” She calls, yelling at the top of her lungs, earning a long groan from Roland as she passes his bedroom. “HENRY! WHERE ARE YOU?”

“In my room,” he says easily, stepping into the hall and lifting her from the ground. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes,” she says with an emphatic nod. “Why do you have to go to school so far away?”

Henry shrugs, “I come home a lot.”

“Not enough.”

“Well, we’ll just have to enjoy the time we have and make the most of it,” he tells her as he sets her down onto his bed.

She grins broadly, “Does that mean I can stay up late? Past my bedtime?”

Henry grins at her, “What’s a bedtime?” He sits down beside her and opens the book, scanning the pages of the storybook that he made for her jus before he left for college. It’s just like his, expect the stories in it are only ones that would appeal to her—specifically, there’s no Evil Queen—the Queen exists, but her stories revolve around avenging the death of her first love minus the part about hunting Snow White and near misses with Robin Hood, her star-crossed love. “What do you want to read tonight?”

“The one about the outlaws!”

“You like that one, don’t you?”

“It’s my favorite,” she confesses with a nod as she snuggles against him. Henry smiles and opens the book, draping his arm around his baby sister and pulling her close. “Henry? Can I tell you something?”

“Sure,” he says easily as he looks down at Ember.

“You’re my favorite babysitter.” He laughs softly and finds the page where the story of Regina the Bandit begins. He clears his throat and starts the story.


End file.
